Boehner defies Obama; then Kerry trumps Boehner

The following is based on reporting by Akbar Ahmed for the Huffington Post.   Quotes are from Ahmen's article:

"House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) appeared to have pulled off a masterful political victory against the Obama administration Wednesday when he revealed that he had invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress on the dangers of the administration's negotiations with Iran.

"Coming a day after President Barack Obama threatened to veto new Iran-related sanctions legislation that he said could harm the negotiations, Boehner's move looked like a smart way to . . .  [show] that the U.S.'s top ally in the region supported them.

"Then things started to fall apart.

"Secretary of State John Kerry . . . pulled off a diplomatic bank shot by using a different part of the Israeli government against Boehner. . . .  Kerry diplomatically said Netanyahu was welcome in the U.S. any time -- and proceeded to both steal Boehner's thunder and turn news coverage in a different direction.

"'In Israel, one of the top intelligence . . . personnel within the Israeli intelligence field . . . was asked directly by a congressional delegation that visited there over the weekend what the effect of sanctions would be. And this person answered that it would be like throwing a grenade into the process.' . . .  Kerry said.     'So we’re asking people to be responsible here, and then let’s have a good, responsible debate about what the best way to proceed is.'

"Kerry's comment altered the conversation, making it about whether Republicans want to torpedo nuclear talks with Iran. . . .  Kerry's message: It's Republicans, and the Democrats who support them on new sanctions, who would fail Israel by antagonizing Iran and destroying the chance of a peaceful resolution to the years-long controversy over Tehran's nuclear program."


"Within hours of Kerry's comment, . . . lawmakers [who were] present at the briefing . . . confirmed Kerry's comment. They added that two senior U.S. officials had told them members of the Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, 'shared its view with the administration that if legislation that imposed a trigger leading to future sanctions on Iran was signed into law, it would cause the talks to collapse.'

". . . [I]t forces lawmakers to be open about their intentions. Are they simply worried that Iran will renege on the agreement? Or do they genuinely want to blow up the talks? 

". . . Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Germany, Britain and France published an extraordinary joint op-ed in The Washington Post, pleading with Republicans to back off the effort before the sensitive talks are derailed." 

Deftly handled, John Kerry.   

Ralph

PS:   The Obama administration announced that there would be no White House meeting with Netanyahu, because the invitation did not follow protocol, which avoids hosting heads of foreign states that are this close to an election back home, in order to avoid the appearance of trying to interfere or influence the democratic process in that country.

N0te the further subtle indirect reminder here that this is what Netanyahu is doing:   trying to influence a vote in our Congress, as well as his own vote back home.